Granite and emerald
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia
Fifty kilometres of pink granite, white sand and the clearest water in the Mediterranean, built for boats and for the two months a year when the whole of Milan arrives.
Sardinia, Italy
The Costa Smeralda was designed in the 1960s as a resort that would look as if it had always been there, and it mostly works. The villas sit low in the granite, the harbours are small, and the beaches, Liscia Ruja, Capriccioli, the Pevero, are the finest sand on the Italian side of the sea.
The water is the thing. The Maddalena archipelago is an hour north by boat, Tavolara an hour south, and both have anchorages where the sea is the colour of the name. A yacht here is used every day, and a villa without a boat is half a villa.
August is loud and expensive and the restaurants are full of people who came to be seen. June and September are the same coast with the volume turned down, and they are what we recommend.
Best months
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air °C | 11 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 12 |
| Sea °C | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 15 |
Worth knowing
What we arrange
Costa Smeralda, day by day
The experiences the desk actually books here, tagged by what they are for. The itinerary builder turns them into a plan.
Boat day in La Maddalena
Budelli, Spargi and Caprera by tender, lunch aboard at anchor, water you can see the bottom of at fifteen metres.
seaBeach at Liscia Ruja
The long beach south of Porto Cervo with a bed, an umbrella and the boat waiting off the sand.
seaVermentino in Gallura
Two estates in the hills behind Arzachena, lunch at one of them, a driver for the road.
diningGolf at the Pevero
Eighteen holes between the granite and the sea, tee time at eight before the heat.
activeDinner at the Cervo piazzetta
The old village square at nine, a table at the terrace restaurant, the walk down to the port after.
diningNuraghe and the Giants’ tombs
Bronze Age Sardinia with an archaeologist, an hour inland, an easy morning.
cultureKitesurfing at Porto Pollo
The windiest bay in Sardinia, an instructor, a morning, then lunch on the beach.
activeA night in the clubs
The summer clubs open at one, the table is booked, the driver waits, breakfast is late.
nightlifeFamily day at Capriccioli
Shallow water, rocks to climb, a restaurant behind the beach, no need for the boat.
familyThe calendar
By the numbers
From the collection
Houses in Costa Smeralda
Costa Smeralda
A week in Costa Smeralda, planned to the hour.
A first answer within the hour, a full proposal within 48 hours.
The Sunday note
One short letter a week, on a Sunday
What has just come onto the market, which coast is in season, one tool worth trying. No offers, no forwarding, unsubscribe in one click.